Three men were arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery after allegedly breaking the window of a van parked near ilani with a machete and demanding money from the couple inside.
The men -- Ildefonso Ventura Garcia, 30, Daniel Ventura Garcia, 36, and Juan Escamilla Murillo, 39 -- made first appearances Monday in Clark County Superior Court. Judge Daniel Stahnke set bail in Daniel Ventura Garcia's case at $100,000; the two co-defendants' bails were set at $75,000, court records show.
A Clark County sheriff's deputy was dispatched shortly before 6 a.m. Friday to Allen Canyon Park, just west of the casino, for a report of a robbery.
Two victims told the deputy they had been sleeping in the van in the park's small lot when three men abruptly woke them, demanded money and smashed the vehicle's windows with a machete, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The men were also wearing masks and holding guns, one of which was described as a revolver, according to the affidavit.
The female victim, Tonya L. Broadfoot, handed over her purse containing her identification, debit cards and cellphone before the assailants hopped in their minivan, with paper taped over its front and back license plates, and drove away, the affidavit says.
The male victim, Jesus Samalloa Garcia, gave chase east on Northwest 324th Street and reportedly rammed the back of the suspects' vehicle multiple times, breaking off his front license plate in the process. He forced the fleeing van off the road at the intersection at Northwest 324th and 41st Avenue, court records say.
The van rolled to a stop in a field, and the suspects took off on foot, according to the affidavit. A deputy glanced inside the abandoned van and saw a machete and two handguns. Broadfoot's purse was recovered from the van, too.
Deputies used a canine to track the three men. The search was unsuccessful, but the dog found a revolver in grass along the road, according to the affidavit. Later, it was determined that the revolver was a pellet gun.
A woman, who was on her way to work, told deputies she witnessed three men standing around the victims' van and provided descriptions of them. She said one of them had buzzed hair and a tattoo on the left side of his neck. Around 10 a.m. Friday, an area resident called to report three men walking on their property; deputies responded and detained the men, who matched the woman's descriptions, according to the affidavit.
The men "were all covered in dirt and had clearly been in the woods for some time," the affidavit says. Daniel Ventura Garcia told deputies they were out looking for a friend's van, which had been stolen earlier that morning.
All three defendants have arraignment hearings scheduled for July 31.
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